2008 Congress
was the only party with significant number of MOTCs in the 2008 Congress; with the exception of one, the others were independents]] The 2008 Congress was the Lovian federal legislature, elected in the 2008 Federal and Mid-term Elections. It governed from February 1 to January 31, 2009, though Congress had practically stopped governing by the late summer of 2008, after King Dimitri's resignation. Lack of continuity From 2003 to the 2007 Congress, there was a high level of continuity in Congress. Several Members of the Congress, including Rick Frances, Judy Almore, and Sakalír Kelmný, served five consecutive terms as a member of the same party. Though the 2007 Congress marked a major loss in the then leading Freedom First party, there was little general disrupture in Congress. Halfway through the 2007 Congress, though, the major parties - and the party system in general - suffered from the troublesome coalition between the rivaling King's Party (a centre-left party) and Freedom First (a centre-right party), as well as from the royal succession issue. King Arthur III of Lovia deceased in August 2007, which led to debates about whether the monarchy had to be maintained. All opposition parties favored a popular referendum, but failed to pass the bill. By November 2007, when King Dimitri I of Lovia ascended to the throne, the Republican Alternative and Lovian Democratic Party boycotted both the remainder of the term and the upcoming elections. Other parties showed great disinterest in participating. In the meanwhile, KP and F1 struggled to continue their coalition. The leader of F1, Rick Frances, and the leader of KP, Judy Almore both resigned as leaders of their parties and announced that they would not run for re-election. Other senior members of those parties also retired from politics. Few members of the pre-2008 parties participated in the 2008 Federal Elections, as parties either boycotted the elections, lost too much popularity to have any members re-elected, or ran into internal troubles and gradually dissolved. Oos Wes Ilava, an Oceana Christian, was the only to be re-elected with the same party, although Yuri Medvedev (KP in 2007), Patrick McKinley (F1), and Lars Washington (KP) were re-elected, though not as their 2007 party, and 2004-2006 MOTC Pierlot McCrooke returned to Congress. The people's discontent with the politics of 2007 are most often cited as the reason for the lack of continuity. The Progressive Center Party, a descendent of the left-leaning King's Party led by Judy Almore's lieutenant Medvedev, who would become Prime Minister, dominated the 2008 Congress. Composition At the start of the 2008 Congress, there were 7 MOTCs: A government of national unity was formed by Prime Minister Yuri Medvedev. After the mid-term elections, its composition was as follows: Members Senior members * Dimitri I, King of Lovia, Member by Right * Ferguson, Robin V., independent * Ilava, Oos Wes, OC (left Congress April 24) * Jefferson, Arthur, PCP * McKinley, Patrick, independent (left Congress March 11) * Medvedev, Yuri, PCP * Washington, Lars, independent Junior members * Matthews, George, PCP * McCrooke, Pierlot, PCP * Opať, Ben, OC * Pollini, Enrico, PCP * Ştefan, Marius, independent See also * 2007 Congress * 2009 Congress * 2009 Republican Provisional Congress Category:2008 Congress